Mandated Reporter Training
Child Abuse & Neglect
Community Action Partnership of
San Luis Obispo County Inc.
Child, Youth, & Family Services Division
A Training Curriculum
for Mandated Reporters
on the
California Child Abuse Neglect Reporting
(CANRA) Law
Presented by
San Luis Obispo County
Child Abuse Prevention Council
Mandated Reporter Training Objectives
1. How the law defines child abuse and neglect
2. What is a Mandated Reporter? What is required of
you as a Mandated Reporter?
3. What protections the law provides for you as a
mandated reporter
4. How to identify signs of child abuse.
5. Child Abuse & Neglect Reporting Procedure
6. What happens after a report is filed.
7. Special Concerns
Introduction
•
The goal of today’s presentation is to make each of
you aware that as paid staff serving children you are
mandated by California state law to report any
knowledge or suspicion that a child’s safety or
welfare is at risk.
•
It is not your responsibility to investigate such
suspicions.
•
In fact, if you do investigate, you might create
obstacles to the ability of Child Welfare Services
(CWS) to protect the children.
•
Your sole responsibility is to report your concerns to
the CWS by phone as soon as possible and in writing
within 36 hours.
Two Types of Reporters
• Mandated reporters – those required to
report suspected child abuse
- Have legal duty to report
- Can be held liable for failure to report
• Discretionary reporters – those who report
simply because they develop a concern for
a child’s welfare
Duty to Report
Circumstances for Reporting
• Reasonable suspicion – if a person is
suspicious, based on facts that could create
a reasonable person with his/her training
and experience to suspect child abuse
• Knowledge criteria – this includes actual
observation of child abuse or obtaining
knowledge of abuse
Your Legal Responsibilities
• Legal duty to report if you have
“reasonable suspicion” of abuse and obtain
this knowledge during the course of your
work
• You are NOT required to prove the abuse
or collect evidence
• Your are NOT obligated to report if you are
not serving in your professional capacity
What must be reported?
• Under CANRA, suspicions of the following
must be reported in California
-
Physical abuse
Sexual abuse
Emotional abuse
Neglect
• When the victim is under the age of 18, and
the perpetrator is any age
Identifying Child Abuse
• Requires first the understanding that child
abuse can occur in any family, regardless
of socio-economic status, religion,
education, ethnic background, or other
factors.
- Cultural beliefs may affect our perception of
this
• Secondly, the professional must be aware
of and alert to the signs of child abuse.
Obstacles to Reporting
•
•
•
•
Denial
Fear of making a mistake
Fear that parent will be angry
Belief that nothing happens when you
make a report, or that it makes things
worse
Definitions of Child
Abuse and Neglect
Physical Abuse
• CANRA defines as a physical injury inflicted by
other than accidental means on a child by parent,
caretaker, or other adult known or unknown to
child.
• Also includes unlawful corporal punishment or
injury, willfully inflicted, resulting in a traumatic
condition
- Spanking or corporal punishment is not
necessarily illegal, it should be “reasonable
and age-appropriate”
Physical Abuse
• Abusive bruises and burns may also be
patterned, or have a distinct outline
• Accidental bruises usually do not leave a clear
pattern or outline
• While an outline or pattern should raise concern,
abusive injuries are not always patterned, and
may look very similar to accidental bruises
• Some common patterns of INFLICTED bruises
are shown next
Sexual Abuse
• Per CANRA, child sexual abuse includes
both sexual assault and sexual exploitation.
- Sexual assault includes
-
> Sex acts with children
> Child molestation
> Intentional masturbation in the presence of a
child
Sexual exploitation includes
> Preparing, selling, or distributing pornographic
materials involving children
> Performances involving obscene sexual conduct
> Child prostitution
Sexual Abuse - Disclosure
• Most victims of sexual abuse report the
crime(s) months or even years after they
have occurred
• Many victims never report at all
• It is very common for children to recant a
disclosure of sexual abuse
- They disclose the abuse and then change their
story, denying that it ever happened
- This happens for a variety of reasons including
fear, guilt, shame, embarrassment, or even a
desire not to hurt the perpetrator or family unit
Neglect
•
Under CANRA neglect of a child, whether
"severe" or "general," must be reported if the
perpetrator is a person responsible for the child's
welfare
-
Includes:
> Acts (i.e. locking a toddler in a hot car)
> Omissions (i.e. not providing food)
The neglect may cause harm to the child or just
threaten to harm the child's health or welfare
> Must still report even if no injury
Neglect
• General neglect
- Failure of a caregiver to provide adequate
food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or
supervision, where no physical injury to the
child has occurred
• Severe neglect
- The intentional failure of a caregiver to
provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, or
medical care
- Or caregiver willfully causes or permits the
child to be placed in a situation such that his
or her person or health is endangered
Neglect- Religious Considerations
• Refusing medical care for religious reasons is
a hotly debated topic when children are
involved
• Per CANRA, a child receiving treatment by
spiritual means or not receiving specified
medical treatment for religious reasons, shall
not for that reason alone be considered a
neglected child
• An informed and appropriate medical
decision made by a caregiver after
consultation with a physician does not
constitute neglect
Intimate Partner Violence
• California is one of the few states that mandates
reports of intimate partner abuse between
adolescents / teenagers
- “Intimate relationship” not dependent on age
• Can be reported to either local child welfare
services or law enforcement agency
• Unfortunately, responses to reports of intimate
partner violence affecting minors vary
enormously from jurisdiction to jurisdiction
Emotional Abuse
• Under CANRA, also called cruelty
• Defined as willful cruelty or unjustified
punishment
• includes:
- Inflicting or permitting physical pain or mental
suffering
- Or permitting the endangerment of the child's
person or health
Emotional Abuse
• Includes acts or omissions that have or could
cause serious behavioral, cognitive, emotional, or
mental disorders
• In some cases, the acts alone, without any
obvious harm are sufficient to warrant reporting
- i.e. extreme or bizarre forms of punishment, such as
torture or confinement of a child in a dark closet
• For less severe acts, such as belittling or cruel
words, it can be more difficult to determine what
constitutes emotional abuse
- For the mandated reporter, reporting the concern is the
only requirement
- It is up to the child protective agency to decide if the
act(s) in question are emotional abuse
Emotional Abuse
• Most difficult form of child maltreatment to
identify
- The effects of emotional maltreatment (lags in
physical development, learning problems, and
speech disorder) are nonspecific
- The effects of emotional maltreatment may
only become evident in later developmental
stages of the child's life
- The behaviors of emotionally abused and
emotionally disturbed children are often similar
Emotional Abuse
• Although any of the forms of child
maltreatment may be found alone, they often
occur in combination
- Emotional abuse is most often seen in
combination with other forms of abuse
- The red flags for emotional abuse are very similar
to the red flags for other forms of abuse
Red Flags – Child Behaviors
• Hostile, aggressive, or verbally abusive toward
others
• Anxious, fearful or withdrawn behavior
• Self-injurious
- self-mutilates, bangs head, etc.
• Destructive
- breaks windows, sets fires, etc.
• Frightened of going home, frightened of
parents/caretakers
• Attempts to hide injuries
• Frequent absence from school
• Clingy, forms indiscriminate attachments
• Tries to be perfect
Red Flags – Child Behaviors
• Sexual Abuse:
- Inappropriate sexual knowledge for age
- Demonstrating sexual acts on other children or
toys
- Molesting other children
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Sexually transmitted infections
• Neglect:
- Dirty clothes, poor hygiene
- Failure to thrive, or a malnourished child
- Severe dental cavities
Red Flags – Home environment
• Neglect:
- Medications, cleaners, toxins within reach of
a child
- Guns or other weapons that are not properly
secured
- Trash, rotted food, insects, or animal waste
- Choking hazards within reach of an infant or
toddler
Red Flags – Parent Behaviors
• Parental depression or other mental illness
• Parent tells you of use of objects to discipline the child
- belts, whips, clothes hanger
• Parent has unrealistic expectation of child
- toilet-training a 6-month-old
• Parent is unduly harsh and rigid about childrearing
• Parent singles out one child as "bad," "evil," or "beyond
control"
• Parent berates, humiliates, or belittles child
• Parent misinterprets child's normal behavior
- a parent interprets an infant's crying as evidence that child
hates the parent
• Parent is indifferent to child
Red Flags – Stressors on
Parents / Contributing Factors
•
•
•
•
•
•
Domestic violence
Unemployment
Poverty
Lack of social support
History of abuse as a child
Substance abuse
When should I file a report?
• When one "has knowledge of or observes a
child in his or her professional capacity, or
within the scope of his or her employment
whom he or she knows or reasonably
suspects has been the victim of child
abuse..."
• If you suspect, report.
- Proof of abuse is not required; that will be
determined through investigation by the child
welfare professionals or law enforcement
Who files the report?
• Responsibility rests solely with the mandated
reporter
• Reporting to an employer, supervisor, school
principal, school counselor, coworker, or other
person is NOT required nor adequate.
• When two or more mandated reporters jointly
have knowledge of suspected child abuse or
neglect, a single report may be made
- Any member of the reporting team who has knowledge
that the designated person has
failed to report must do so him or herself
To Whom do I report?
•
To a child protective agency
-
•
“Child protective agency” is defined as a county
welfare or probation department, or a police or
sheriff’s department
An example of a child protective agency is your local
office of the Department of Children and Family
Services
The only types of law enforcement agency you may
report to are the Sheriff’s or Police Department in
your community
> Other law enforcement persons, such as school
security, are not authorized to receive reports
County CWS numbers in packet
How do I report
• Complete the SCAR
(Suspected Child Abuse Report)
• Immediately call CWS
• Then submit the report:
- Within 36 hours a written report must be sent to the
child protective or law enforcement agency to which
the telephone report was made
8572
Reporting
Party’s
information
•Name
•Date
•Address
•Phone
8572
Information of
person taking
report
•
•
•
•
•
Name
Phone
Title
Address
Date
8572
Victim’s Information
• Name
• DOB
• Address
• School
• Present location
• Language
8572
Involved Parties
• Siblings
• Parents
• Suspects
8572
Incident
Information
• What
happened?
• What is the
concern for
abuse?
mom
child
child
child
(Child’s dad)
child’s
child
child
Mom
mom
child
Mom
mom
child
Mom
child’s
child
child
What Happens After a Report?
• The primary purpose of the report is to make child
protective agencies aware of possible abuse
• Reports are investigated either by the local law
enforcement agency and/or by the county child
welfare (child protective services) agency
Child Welfare Services
• Interviews the child and family to evaluate the
situation
- Primary responsibility is protection of the child
- The child may need to be removed and placed in a
safer environment or the family may just need
additional services
• Often, parents or others who mistreat children are
overwhelmed by their situation/problems
- Financial problems, mental illness, anger issues ,
etc.
- May not be able to handle the stresses of raising
children without help
• CWS offers services and resources to help manage
the problems of the family and child
- Counseling, referrals to self-help groups ;
assistance in obtaining medical care, emergency
shelter, transportation
Child Welfare Services
• The CWS worker's goal is to protect children and enable
families to stay together whenever possible
• Reports received (except neglect) must be crossreported immediately, or as soon as possible, to local law
enforcement agency
• Not all reports are serious enough to require the
assistance of the law enforcement agency
- In these events, the family may be contacted only by
local child welfare services
What Happens Next?
• The report is determined to be one of the following
- Unfounded - the report is determined to be false,
inherently improbable, to involve an accidental injury,
or not to constitute child abuse
- Substantiated - the report is determined to constitute
child abuse or neglect
- Inconclusive - the report is determined not to be
unfounded, but the findings are inconclusive and there
is insufficient evidence to determine whether child
abuse or neglect has occurred
SLO County Department of Social Services
Intake &
Community Response Structure
CWS Response
(24 hr response)
CWS Intake
High to Very High Risk
Request
Feedback
(Mandated
Review
Reporting Party
Calls in
(805)
781-KIDS
Evaluate
Determine
Face-To-Face
Response Path
CWS & CAP-SLO
Family Support
Services
(10 day response)
Moderate to High Risk
CAP-SLO
Family Support Services
(10 day response)
NO known safety issues
Low Risk
Reporters only)
OR
Team
Decision
Making
Safeguards for Mandated Reporters
• Confidentiality
• Mandated reporters are required to give their
names when making a report
• The reporter's identity is kept confidential and
may only be disclosed as follows:
-
Between child protective agencies
To counsel representing a child protective agency
To the district attorney
To the child's attorney
To a licensing agency when abuse in out-of-home care
is reasonably suspected
- By court order
- When the reporter waives confidentiality
Safeguards for Mandated Reporters
• Confidentiality
• Reports of suspected child abuse and the
information they contain are also
confidential
- May only be disclosed to official agencies and
professionals involved in the investigation,
treatment, prosecution, or record-keeping of
these cases
- Any violation of confidentiality of this
information is a misdemeanor punishable by up
to six months in the county jail, or by a fine of
$500, or by both
Safeguards for Mandated Reporters
• Immunity
• Mandated Reporters have immunity from
criminal or civil liability for reporting as required
- Unless the report is proven to be false and the person
reporting knows it is false
- Or the report is made with reckless disregard of the
truth
• Mandated reporters are not liable civilly or
criminally for photographing the victim of child
abuse and disseminating the photograph with
the report
Failure to Report
• Misdemeanor, punishable by
- Up to six months in jail
- Up to a $1,000 fine
• May also be subject to a civil lawsuit, and found
liable for damages, especially if the child-victim
or another child is further victimized because of
the failure to report
• No supervisor or administrator may impede or
inhibit a report or subject the reporting person to
any sanction
- to do so is punishable by imprisonment, a fine, or both
Employer’s Responsibilities
• Any person entering employment that makes him or
her a mandated reporter must sign a statement that
he or she has knowledge of the reporting law and will
comply with its requirements
- Statement must be provided and retained by the
employer
• A form for this statement is available from your local
child protective agency
• Licensing Requirement
The state agency issuing a license to a person who is
required to report child abuse must either send a
statement to the licensee explaining reporting
requirements and the penalty for failure to report, or
print the information on all application forms
Conclusion
• Primary intent of the reporting laws is to protect the
child
• Protecting the identified child may also provide the
opportunity to protect other children in the home
• It is equally important to provide help for the parents
• The report of abuse may be a catalyst for bringing
about change in the home environment, which may
help to lower the risk of abuse in the home
• As a mandated reporter you play an obviously crucial
role in this process, identifying and reporting
concerns of abuse or neglect of children that may
otherwise go unseen
Mandated Reporter Training Objectives
1. How the law defines child abuse and neglect
2. What is a Mandated Reporter? What is required of
you as a Mandated Reporter?
3. What protections the law provides for you as a
mandated reporter
4. How to identify signs of child abuse.
5. Child Abuse & Neglect Reporting Procedure
6. What happens after a report is filed.
7. Special Concerns